I think most everyone on air-l is aware of the degree to which many
people tried to keep Lachlan on the list and tried to discuss matters
with him both on and off list. Given the recent incidents surrounding
his postings, the AoIR executive committee adopted the policy below
(it will be posted on www.aoir.org and in our faq). I sincerely hope
that we continue to operate as a pro-active, helpful and courteous
list, in the spirit in which AoIR was founded.
Thank you to everyone who has helped throughout air-l's history
(poster, lurker or whatever), and most recently with handling the
consequences of Lachlan's postings and with drafting the policy.
Sj
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Air-l subscriber policy
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The Association of Internet Researchers is a scholarly association
dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of
Internet studies. It is a resource and support network promoting
critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional
disciplines and existing across academic borders. The association is
international in scope.
Air-l is the association's primary e-mail list. It is available via
subscription to anyone, though subscriber approval by the list
moderators is required in order to make it a forum with little to no
spam or other off-topic messages. The AoIR mission statement (see
http://aoir.org/faq.html) presents broad guidelines for what type of
messages are appropriate. The AoIR executive committee seeks to
ensure air-l is as supportive and welcoming a space as possible. To
that end, the mission statement interpretation as it currently stands
is:
* AoIR rejects ad hominem personal attacks, unnecessary
profanity or any other sort of flaming behavior. Strongly worded
disagreements or rebuttals are appropriate where they don't cross the
line into gratuitous abuse or four-letter diatribes.
* While AoIR supports freedom of expression, it does not simply
do so within the framework of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment
or other countries' legal frameworks. AoIR (and particularly air-l)
is an international association not bound by national law (except in
the matter of its business affairs, as it is incorporated in the
U.S.) and as a membership organization by its very nature is to at
least some very small degree exclusive. AoIR does not discourage
postings based on a subscriber's point of view so long as such
posting is within the broad guidelines of discussion of Internet
research. Those wishing to discuss other matters are encouraged to
create their own forums online.
* Off-topic posts are inappropriate: air-l is a group for
Internet researchers to exchange information, engage in discussion,
and provide support relevant to AoIR's mission. Any submission which
is not of specific relevance to that mission is off-topic for the
list. Messages of personal interest or personal responses to postings
should be sent to individuals, not to the list.
* Posts without a valid e-mail address attached will be
rejected. The moderators are willing to anonymize messages, or
approve posts from anonymous remailers, but the moderators must be
able to contact the person who sent the post.
* To post you must be subscribed to air-l. Subscription
instructions are available at http://aoir.org/subscription.html
* Cross-posting to more than 3 other addresses is not allowed.
* Messages over 10k in size will be rejected. Binaries or
uuencoded files are to be avoided on air-l. If you wish to present an
image or other binary file, we recommend you make it available on the
web and point people to the appropriate URL.
* Excessive posting in html is strongly discouraged. Please
set your mail clients to ascii text.
* The AoIR executive committee reserves the right to change its
interpretation of these guidelines at any time if they deem it
necessary to maintain the integrity of air-l or to further the aims
of AoIR.
* In general postings to air-l will not be moderated. However,
those who do not comply with the subscriber policy will be reminded
of it, and may at any time be unsubscribed from air-l by the AoIR
executive committee.